01-07-2016, 03:37 AM
ST. Cheap NFL Jerseys Free Shipping . LOUIS - Martin Brodeur may one day return to the New Jersey Devils, where he won three Stanley Cups and cemented his place as the goaltender with more wins than any other in NHL history.Up first, though, is some serious time with the St. Louis Blues.The 42-year-old Brodeur formally announced his retirement Thursday to take a front-office position with St. Louis, where he wrapped up his career after 21 outstanding years with the Devils. He said he is leaving the game with a smile on his face and excited about his next opportunity.Im leaving the game really, really happy, Brodeur said.Brodeur joined the Blues as a free agent in early December after No. 1 goaltender Brian Elliott was sidelined by a knee injury. He went 3-3 with a 2.87 goals-against average and .899 save percentage. He extended his NHL record for shutouts to 125 with a 3-0 win against Colorado on Dec. 29, his final NHL victory.When Elliott returned, Brodeur became the odd man out among the teams three goalies, including Jake Allen. He took a leave of absence to contemplate his future and word came Tuesday that he was done.If (Elliott) didnt get hurt, I was never going to be here, Brodeur said. For me it was a great opportunity.Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said the team was excited to have Brodeur join the team as a senior adviser.Hes going to travel with the team on a daily basis, hes going to interact with our players and our coaches, Armstrong said. Our goals are very simple in St. Louis with this team, its to prepare and be competitive to win a Stanley Cup and to ultimately win a Stanley Cup. When I look up here and you see the number of Stanley Cups up here on this stage, all these people we can tap into as we learn and we move forward.Over 22 seasons, Brodeur piled up a 691-397-176 record, 2.24 GAA and .912 save percentage in 1,266 career regular-season games. The native of Montreal holds the league records for wins, shutouts, games played and minutes played. He also had 113 career post-season victories to go along with those three Cups and four Vezina Trophies as the NHLs top goaltender.He was also a two-time Olympic gold medallist with Team Canada in 2002 and 2010. Prime Minister Stephen Harper congratulated Brodeur on his storied career on his Twitter account.Hockey legend @MartinBrodeur announced his retirement today. Canada salutes his extraordinary career & contributions to our game, Harper posted.Along the way, Brodeur became a role model for many young goaltenders, including Ryan Miller.When he was breaking into the league, he broke in at a young age and was having success, Miller said. I was about the right age where 14, 15 years old watching him break in, he wasnt so much older than me where I was like Wow the NHLs so far away.When you get to be in your teens and theres a guy in his early 20s, Wow hes only a few years away and hes doing it.Asked what he was most proud of, Brodeur cited the wins — and his health.If you play hockey, you might as well win, he said. The most important record is the wins record that I have. My durability is just something I took a lot of pride in, that I was able to play 70 games over and over and over and they add up to 1,200-and-something games, plus the playoff games, plus whatever. Its hard to do.Brodeur said he planned to learn as much as he can as a front-office employee with the possibility of one day running a team.He also said the possibility exists that he will return to New Jersey in a front-office role at some point in the future. He said he has talked with Lou Lamoriello, the Devils president/general manager, about returning to New Jersey.We talked and he knows that eventually were going to cross paths again, if its next year, in two years, in three years, I cant answer, Brodeur said. Im doing this now as a St. Louis Blue and I want to learn as much as I can and well see where thats going to bring me. I might not like this. I might just go and say playing golf every day looks a lot better than doing this. Ill make a decision on my future whenever it comes around. Right now Im just going to go all in on this. Not that I needed the blessing of Lou, but he understands it.Brodeur made it clear how important his years with the Devils mean to him.For me, my hockey career is all about the Devils, Brodeur said. Nobodys going to associate me with the Blues as a hockey player and a retirement arrangement will be made for New Jersey in the future. It could be this year. It could be next year. I dont know whats Lous plan. Im so appreciative with all the fans, what the organization did for me.With files from Canadian Press reporter Josh Clipperton in Vancouver. Cheap NFL Jerseys China Free Shipping . The Dallas-based Fifth Court of Appeals temporarily halted the case at Armstrongs request in March, but ruled on Thursday it doesnt have jurisdiction at this stage of an arbitration matter. A spokesman for SCA Promotions said the ruling will allow the arbitration to proceed. The ruling was a defeat for Armstrong but not a final one. Cheap NFL Jerseys China Wholesale . With only two downs to achieve a first down, sometimes it is very hard to string together enough consecutive first downs to drive the long fields in the CFL and score touchdowns.PRETORIA, South Africa -- The first witness in the Oscar Pistorius murder trial testified Monday to hearing a womans "blood-curdling" screams before the sound of four gunshots on the night the double-amputee Olympian killed his girlfriend. Michell Burger, a woman who lives on an estate next to Pistorius gated community, said she and her husband were awoken by the screams in the pre-dawn hours of Feb. 14 last year, when Pistorius killed Reeva Steenkamp by shooting four times through a door in his bathroom. Pistorius says he killed Steenkamp by mistake thinking she was a dangerous intruder in his house, but prosecutors believe the world-famous athlete shot his girlfriend after a fight and immediately tried to paint a picture at the trial of a loud argument before the fatal shots. Burgers testimony contradicts Pistorius version of events, because he said he thought Steenkamp was in bed and he did not describe any woman screaming. "It was very traumatic," Burger said, speaking in Afrikaans through an interpreter and in answer to questions from lead prosecutor Gerrie Nel. "You could hear it was blood-curdling screams. You cant translate it into words. The anxiousness in her voice, and fear. It leaves you cold." Burger said: "She screamed terribly and she yelled for help" and testified that she also heard a man shout for help before the shots were fired. Pistorius lawyer, Barry Roux, opened his cross-examination by asking Burger if she thought Pistorius was a liar. She didnt directly answer that with a yes or no, but repeated her recollection of the nights events. "I can only tell the court what I heard that evening," Burger said. "I cannot understand how I could clearly hear a woman scream but Mr. Pistorius could not hear it." But Roux argued she had changed her testimony from the written statement she gave to police soon after the shooting, only adding "blood-curdling" as a description of the screams in court. Pistorius earlier pleaded not guilty at the start of the trial to charges of murder and three other counts relating to shooting guns in public and illegal possession of ammunition. Wearing a dark grey suit and black tie, he spent the first 30 minutes of the first day of the trial at the high court in the South African capital standing before his defence lawyer, Barry Roux, asked the judge for permission for Pistorius to sit. The Olympians murder trial was being broadcast live on TV in South Africa and across the world. The first witness, Burger, was called before even an hour had passed as the prosecution went straight into testimony. The trial itself started 90 minutes late after an earlier delay because of an interpreter problem. When he entered court, Pistorius walked past the victims mother who says she came to court so she can "really look him in the eyes." Defence lawyer Kenny Oldwadge laid out Pistorius legal strategy, reading a statement from Pistorius in which he says the killing was an accident and that there were inconsistencies in the states case, as well as an attempt to introduce inadmissible character evidence to discredit him. In the statement, Pistorius said he brought two fans in ffrom the balcony on the night of the killing, after speaking to his girlfriend who was in bed beside him. Cheap NFL Jerseys China. He said Steenkamp must have gone into the bathroom while he was fetching the fans. Pistorius said he did not notice that she had gone and heard the bathroom window open. "I approached the bathroom, armed with my firearm, so as to defend Reeva and I," Pistorius said in the statement. He said he then heard a noise in the toilet, and was in a "fearful state" because he was unable to run away or defend himself physically since he was not wearing his prosthetic legs. "The state has embarked on a strategy to rely on unsubstantiated allegations," he said, citing a neighbours testimony that an argument had been heard in his home. According to Pistorius statement, other neighbours living nearby said they had not heard any argument. He also cited evidence provided by police detective Hilton Botha as "false in material respects." In the courtroom, Pistorius was seated near Steenkamps mother, June. She was quoted in the Pretoria News, which published an interview she gave to a British newspaper, saying that she wants to see Pistorius. "I want to look at Oscar, really look him in the eyes, and see for myself the truth about what he did to Reeva," said June Steenkamp, 67. "Whatever the court decides at the end of his trial, I will be ready to forgive him ... But first I want to force him to look at me, Reevas mother, and see the pain and anguish he has inflicted on me. I feel I need that." Reeva Steenkamp was a glamorous model and budding reality TV show star when she was cut down at age 29. Earlier, a drone carrying cameras flew over the entrance to the courthouse in grey, drizzly skies. Several broadcasters massed live broadcast satellite trucks around the courthouse. A 24-hour cable channel devoted to covering the trial was launched in South Africa on Sunday. If convicted on the murder charge, Pistorius could be sent to prison for at least 25 years before the chance of parole, the minimum time someone must serve if given a life sentence in South Africa. South Africa does not have the death penalty. A lesser sentence is possible if Pistorius is found guilty of murder but without premeditation. He also could be convicted of culpable homicide, South Africas version of manslaughter in which someone is killed through negligence. The additional firearms charges relate to him allegedly shooting out of the sunroof of a car in one incident and another when he allegedly fired a gun inside a restaurant, apparently by mistake. Ammunition also was found at his house after the shooting that he allegedly did not have proper licensing for. Judge Thokozile Masipa, hearing the biggest trial of her career, will ultimately pronounce the champion runner innocent or guilty and will decide on any sentence. South Africa has no trial by jury. Parts of the trial will be broadcast on live television, both in South Africa and across the world. A South African cable channel has been launched which will provide 24-hour coverage of the Pistorius trial, using commentators and prepared feature stories when the court is not in session. cheap nfl jerseys cheap jerseys cheap jerseys cheap jerseys cheap nfl jerseys wholesale jerseys ' ' '